VATICAN CITY -- While Pope Francis' condition has continued to improve, the Vatican announced that he will not lead his traditional Ash Wednesday services in Rome March 5. Instead, the Vatican said, the Ash Wednesday procession from the Rome Church of St. Anselm to the Basilica of Santa Sabina for Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the major penitentiary or head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, a church court dealing with matters of conscience. The Vatican announcement Feb. 28 came after a typically brief morning bulletin that said the pope had had a peaceful night and was resting. A source later said the pope got out of bed, had breakfast and was continuing to receive his treatment and doing his respiratory physiotherapy. Pope Francis, 88, has been undergoing treatment for double pneumonia in Rome's Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14; doctors said Feb. 27 his prognosis remains "guarded." The Vatican also announced that Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and an Argentine like the pope, would lead the rosary in St. Peter's Square Feb. 28. Cardinals have been leading a nightly rosary to pray for the pope since Feb. 24.
U.S. cardinal to play key role until a new pope is elected With the death of Pope Francis April 21, the practical aspects of overseeing the day-to-day needs of the church and organizing a papal election fall to U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell.
Pope on Easter: Jesus' resurrection makes Christians pilgrims of hope The hope Christians have is not a sign of avoiding reality but of trusting in the power of God to defeat sin and death as the resurrection of Jesus clearly shows, Pope Francis wrote in his Easter message.
'Why them and not me,' pope asks after Holy Thursday visit to prison While he did not celebrate Mass or wash the feet of inmates, Pope Francis made his customary Holy Thursday visit to a detention facility, arriving at Rome's Regina Coeli jail at about 3 p.m. April 17.